Grimms and Gods
by Daniele-Marx
Summary: An outside force unleashes itself in Los Angeles with no other purpose but to kill. 4 chapters. Finished!
1. Grimms and Gods: chapter 1

Grimms and Gods  
  
By Daniele-Marx  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own "Angel" or anyone from BtVS. I like writing this story. I would like to say that this one is complete in advance! YEA! I didn't know much about "Angel" until just recently.  
  
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Angel rounded an alley corner, running into a trashcan and toppling it over; he almost lost his balance as he kept running through the darkened streets of Los Angeles but quickly steadied himself. The quarter moon was bright against the moist streets as he splashed through a small puddle of water to follow his demon. The suspect he was following either was a fast-paced creature or invisible. He had been trailing a mere scraping sound for the last ten blocks, and it sounded like honed wood against the rain fresh, rocky pavement. His legs were aching from the journey but he was so determined to catch the murderer this night that it didn't matter what he felt. The wooden relic had sounded like it was being dragged through puddles and bumping into small stones in the alley, not lifting up as it lightly dragged along the ground. Every time Angel thought he was closer, he found himself facing nothing. He concluded that he was on a wild goose chase and he needed to find it before it killed again. It no longer mattered what form the killer took because he was already chasing it. It would have been safe, though, if he found out what 'it' was before he went parading through the alleyways in search of it.  
  
At first it seemed simple enough. The victims were sliced clean through from head to toe, leaving only one clue: a broken mirror. Angel stopped where he was, which left him next to a three story apartment building underneath the emergency escape. He was extremely stressed considering he had been chasing this creature for so long and he hadn't even been able to catch a glimpse of it yet. This was the first time he was able to trail the demon after it had appeared a few days ago. Every night another three victims were found and he was becoming very agitated and concerned because the creature wasn't leaving any sort of clues behind or even evidence that something unnatural had been the cause of death. The broken mirror had been the best lead but that could have been done by anyone. He had been walking down the street away from one of the victim sites not half an hour ago and heard a tapping sound coming from the exact location he had been surveying. The tapping had stopped as soon as he had looked over. Something inside of him told him to follow, thus he did. He knew now that he was on the trail of the guilty party.  
  
Angel cursed and slammed his fist against the brick wall of the apartment building, feeling the grainy side dig into his knuckles. He was angry and getting nowhere fast, and looked over when he heard the sound of wood connecting with pavement. What followed was silence, and Angel had had about enough. He felt a chill down his spine and heard the scraping sound coming towards him. Turning once again to see who it was, he realized that no one was there, but the scraping sound was still coming towards him. "Come out where I can see you." No answer. Angel began to slowly approach the area where the sound was approximately. There should have been some kind of sign that someone was in his presence, like heavy breathing or footsteps of some sort. The sound echoed through his ears and he felt his eye begin to twitch.  
  
Angel shut his eyes and tried to concentrate on what he was supposed to be chasing, but all he heard was the scraping as it continued to approach him. He could smell it, he realized, and that was something to follow. It smelled like blood, but it wasn't the creature's blood. This was the girl's blood from the most recent death. Angel guessed how far away the scent was and concluded that it was directly in front of him. "I will tell you once again. Show yourself." He transformed his face to apply his threat and the sound of the wood against the pavement made him begin to hesitate. The creature appeared to be sending a message. To whom Angel suddenly didn't want to know. The rhythm of the pounding made Angel even more anxious to rid himself of the thing. If he had a beating heart he guessed it would be racing, and he forced himself to act. The scraping stopped and Angel leaped to his left, hearing a gust of wind and the sound of metal clashing with pavement. He quickly made his decision and ran over to the fire escape he had been under earlier, grabbing the bottom rung and straining his muscles to pull himself up. The tapping started up again and Angel forced himself to concentrate. He succeeded in lifting himself up and grabbed the next rung.  
  
There came the sound of wood connecting to pavement in the distance, adding its intonation to the one below him. It as well was approaching him. The sound made Angel even more aware of his situation. Another sound added itself to the tapping coming towards him. He hurried himself up and reached the next rung. He forced himself to concentrate on climbing. It had a pack. Great, he thought sarcastically. It couldn't get much worse than this, could it? How could he fight something he couldn't see? He knew he had to make it back to the Hyperion as soon as he could because he had a strange feeling that he had just pissed something off that wasn't to be pissed off. The number of tapping creatures multiplied as he heard them coming closer and he finally got his foot up to the bottom rung. Hauling himself up the ladder, he ascended until he reached the first level, following the path upwards. The tapping stopped and he looked down as he reached the second level, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see them. He forced himself to keep running and raced up the next incline, ready to start climbing the ladder up to the roof when he should reach it. He cursed as he heard the sound of metal clashing with metal. Reaching for the next handlebar up, he felt the fire escape lurch, forcing him to hesitate before continuing on. The fire escape suddenly groaned as if all the restraints holding it up had been disconnected. He found himself at the ladder finally and he scaled the rungs, reaching the roof in no time whatsoever. Whatever they were, he knew now that he had to book it or else he wouldn't make it back to the Hyperion before they caught him.  
  
Angel leaped down to the roof from the ledge and ran towards the opposite side of the building. There was another groan coming from the escape and he heard it collapse loudly, making him jump at the sound of the escape caving in and falling noisily to the street. After a few moments of silence following the catastrophe, the tiny noise pierced his eardrums, honing on his senses. The tapping was now surrounding the small apartment complex and he felt he needed to act quick. They weren't following him up, but he knew they had to have a plan. There had to be around fourteen of them from the sounds alone, but then they were in synchronicity in their rhythm, which made him realize that he should have just kept his proper distance until more was discovered about these creatures. He never thought that there could be more than one working together for a common goal.  
  
Looking around the ragged rooftop, he ran towards the roof entrance and heard the tapping around the building get louder. He threw open the door and headed down the stairs. There was a screech and the tapping stopped. The sound of magic flying and exploding reached his ears and he ran faster down towards the bottom. Reaching the third door corridor he heard metal clashing with brick and another screech. The stairway was built to accommodate long range rail jumpers and Angel leaped over the railing, falling quickly towards the first floor landing. Landing with a heavy thud he rolled forward so his feet wouldn't take the full force of the fall. Without delay he got to his feet and ran to the front door, where he stopped and looked outside for any sign of battle. A blast of blue light rushed past the window and he moved backwards as he heard something crash heavily into one of the brick walls outside.  
  
Suddenly a woman ran into the apartment entrance and grabbed his arm, beginning to pull him out onto the street. "Come with me if you want to stay alive." Angel stopped as she pulled on his arm and she turned towards him. The woman was short, about 5'4, dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a green mock turtleneck that matched her eyes. Her eyes were determined to help him and she acted as though she had been around these creatures before. He looked down to examine her further, noticing that she wore broken in shoes that had once been white. They were now a dirt-covered anomaly. He wondered how they were held together but looked up to conclude his study of the woman. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and reached down into her shoulders. Before he knew it, he was standing on the sidewalk outside the apartment building facing the street. The sky had a violet tint to it, signaling the approaching morning, and he pulled his arm back and sensed that she was a vampire, making him trust her less. Her intentions seemed fair at the time, which were to save him, but he wasn't sure he would accept her reasons. She glared at him and looked around them. The two were now facing the street and the bright streetlamps were doing nothing to help his search for the creatures.  
  
"Who are you?" The woman seemed to focus on something but when he looked over to what she was seeing, he saw exactly what he saw before: Nothing. Her eyes searched the area and he concluded that she couldn't see the creatures either, but then again, since she was the only one there, he assumed that she was the one who threw the magic. That didn't explain how she could have hit some of them.  
  
"I will explain later but right now we have to get to safety." The tapping began again and the vampire woman looked around her again. She held out her hand towards one of the creatures on her left and concentrated. "Forces unite!" Her hand began to glow blue and there came several balls of light from her hand which flew across the street, throwing something back that let out an ear-shattering screech as it impacted the light post.  
  
"Come with me." He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the middle of the street where he had spotted a manhole that would lead to the sewer. He let her drop into the darkness and followed shortly after, pulling the manhole lid over the entrance before falling to the bottom. She stared at him as he landed and waited for his directions. "This way." Angel assumed that she was new in town by the way she followed him or had never thought to take the sewers to get around. "Who are you?" Angel took care in questioning her, because people who save you, especially most vampires, weren't the type to go around helping out unless they wanted something in return.  
  
"I thought you would be more concerned in what they were instead of my name." She seemed slightly irked at the gesture.  
  
"I'll be concerned later when we get back to my place. Until then, you can start by telling me your name." Angel noticed a slight reluctance on her part and turned to face her. Her features were expressing rational thoughts and she apparently didn't trust him either. At least they were mutually agreeable in some aspects. She watched him stop and did so herself, looking up to challenge his expression.  
  
"I told you I would explain once we got somewhere safe."  
  
"I don't trust you."  
  
"And you won't trust me anymore in five minutes unless I tell you who I am?" Angel gave her a borderline glare and she chewed on the inside of her cheek as she became somewhat agitated. "I'll take that as a 'yes,' then. My name is Hannah Denierre Thatcher. I go by the name Deni by most acquaintances. Now that you have my name, even the score with yours."  
  
"Angel." The woman didn't seem surprised at the abruptness of his tone and there came a tapping from above them. Angel grabbed her arm and lead her away as if he were pulling a child away from a stranger and she kept up with him with no hesitation whatsoever. He realized that she trusted him and pulled her around a corner, heading north from the street they were on towards the Hyperion, which was still a few miles away. The tapping faded away and Angel heard Deni sigh of relief as if she knew they weren't going to follow. "What brings you to L.A.?"  
  
"I won't amuse that remark with an answer." Angel began to slow down and Deni took her arm back. Both had a feeling that neither of them were going to speak for awhile. She unconsciously rubbed her wrist and followed him while sighing again, frustrated. Angel wondered how much she knew about these creatures and merely led her towards the Hyperion. It wouldn't take long for them to reach their destination at this pace, but he wanted to know more about them. It was a straight line from here so he knew they had the time to spare. "You're a vampire I take it?"  
  
"Aren't you?" He looked at her expectantly, and felt his eye twitch as a response to the events of the night. It was all starting to sink in now and he began to calm down. The weird thing was that Deni wasn't reacting the same way he was. She was quiet, calm as if she had all the time in the world; she was wise. This made him wonder how old she was and how much she knew about the creatures. He would have to question her later.  
  
"Yeah, but I never went traveling via sewer pipes. Life gets simpler and more advanced by the century, doesn't it? The pipes where I come from are much smaller. All hunting has to be done at night. You could have been anything." She listened for noises above them and remained calm as she heard nothing. "Why were you out there alone?"  
  
"Found something to follow so I followed it." Deni watched the moist walls of the sewer as they moved along the passage and smelled the foul water. Most vampires weren't able to smell things, but the very few who could used it to the best of their ability. All vampires were able to smell blood naturally, but she wondered why they couldn't sense other things like gas and sewer water, for lack of a suggestion. She also realized that the large tunnel system would have been very useful back home.  
  
"You probably hear this a lot but that was really stupid." Deni assumed she was correct when he didn't respond and didn't have the urge to query further. There were more important things than idle conversation, she reasoned. The creatures were in Los Angeles and they had to act fast. In truth, she had just arrived this night and had no idea what the latest news was. She took a moment to word her sentence right. "How much trouble have they caused here so far?" Angel stopped and turned around, staring at her blankly.  
  
"Enough. If you were trailing them how could you not know?" Angel began to get irritated and he waited impatiently for an answer. His presence and upfront kind of attitude seemed to throw her off and almost intimidate Deni, so he forced his emotions down. After a moment, she closed her eyes as if trying to recall what she was going to say exactly. He let her take her time.  
  
"I do know about these creatures. I was trailing them but they hide during the day as much as I do. This being is my first time in L.A. It doesn't help that you got in the way. It has been a long time since I've seen a vampire fight for something other than it's carnal bloodlust and so you can see why I don't trust you. You also being the first person I have come across since I first got here I think I have the right to know who you are or where you are taking me--" Her eyes didn't waver from his and Angel sighed of frustration, then realized that she was right. He was the total stranger she branded him as.  
  
Angel stared at her a bit more closely, trying to take notice of her clothing or any kind of relic that could tell him about what sort of place she was from. Deciding to start from the beginning, he recalled her lack of knowledge of large sewer pipes, which put her in the small town areas, or someplace not as large as Los Angeles. And she probably wouldn't know about him if she were from a small town or something of the like. There was a string loosely hanging around her neck and he put up his finger to signal her patience as she stared at him angrily for looking at her in such a manner. He reached for the necklace and began to draw it out from under her mock turtleneck. Deni's hand came up and pushed his wrist up from below and planted her palm firmly over his heart, pushing him away effectively and without much resistance. There was apparent shock on his face as he mulled over how she managed to push him as far as she did with a single hand. He didn't seem hurt but he did seem to take a defensive pose as if she were going to attack him.  
  
"I would prefer it if you kept your hands to yourself or at least ask permission before you make a move like that again." Angel seemed to the point of becoming very irritated with her and she brought out the necklace, hesitant to take it off but doing so anyway; she extended it out for Angel to examine and his anger began to sift away. So, she was going to cooperate with him. Taking the necklace carefully into his hand, he stared at it as if he was familiar with the artwork. The necklace had a red jewel at the end of the black leather string, a salamander-like creature wrapped around the small orb, holding it there securely, and Angel realized that it seemed more than familiar. Thinking back, he tried to recall something he had read in one of his books at some point in time, but couldn't put his finger on it as he handed it back to her. She immediately put it back around her neck as if it emitted some sort of protection only when she wore it. He stepped back to give her space and she pulled her hair over the cord and hiding the necklace again. "Try and steal it and I won't show mercy."  
  
"I have no intention of stealing things I don't need and apologize for making you wary of my presence." Angel was beginning to see how she functioned; she seemed like a noblewoman who had broken away from the family tradition but kept the manners. He wondered once again how old she was and reasoned that she might even be older than he was himself; for someone who looked that young, she sure did take care of herself in order to survive. Usually the younger vampires never lasted more than a decade of two unless they had the training from a stronger vampire. "I'm part of a team of investigators who work on paranormal cases such as the murders that have been going on recently. This one has been hard and the coincidence of you showing up with information is very convenient. I am taking you to the Hyperion, where we are stationed." He stared at her as if waiting for her confirmation to continue on towards and she nodded solemnly as if he had given her a sufficient enough answer. He began walking again and she followed. He did give her the information she wanted, she reasoned, following suit as Angel stepped over a wayward pipe. She knew he was telling the truth; after awhile one sort of figures these things out of sheer curiosity and lack of trust. There was also some sort of 18th Century charm to his attitude. He could very well be over two hundred years old, she thought. Although what he was like before he was a vampire was something different altogether. She didn't want to know who he was in case he asked the same in return; most personal issues were usually well kept in the dark. She turned her thoughts to something else.  
  
"How many investigators are in your group?"  
  
"Five, and that's plenty for what we do." Deni's first response was to ask how they took care of every paranormal crime in Los Angeles, but realized that even she had the power to watch over a large population without much agitation; yes, five investigators working together were enough. Of course, there were too many problems in the world to take them all on. Then again, she hadn't begun to fight the evils released in the world until they became so bothersome to her recently that she had no choice but to keep track of everyone now. The world was full of stupid demons. She was perfectly content with being a shadow dweller with no real troubles until she got into a fight with a creature that wielded a scythe and was as invisible as her in a mirror.  
  
"I agree." Angel looked back as if surprised that she agreed with him. Deni looked perfectly calm about what she said and brushed it off. "Are you well known around here?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Then five's enough. Ever heard of a Grimmace?" Deni needed to think. She knew he had no idea what a Grimm was but she needed allies and her list was where she left them--back home. There was an eerie silence to the sewer they were walking in with only the sound of their footsteps to keep them company. She would have been happy if there were even a rat where they were, but there wasn't. That struck her as strange as well; they were in a giant sewer, and there were no rats. Angel did seem to be cleaning up the town.  
  
"No." Deni didn't bother to look surprised. Angel didn't like the sound of the name 'Grimmace' so he hurried their pace up a bit. The sooner they were safely in the Hyperion the better. Then they could start researching and drilling her for information. These creatures weren't in any of the books he had read over the decades, but knew he would be surprised if she found something that he couldn't see. Though she looked like a teenager, he knew she had to be older by the way she was acting; then again as he thought before, there weren't many vampires who were turned young living very long, either.  
  
Deni felt the urge to hurry him up but knew he wouldn't take to that authority very well considering she was in his city. She felt she was in good hands for now and wondered how much the creatures had done so far. In packs Grimms were very deadly but they were disposable with strong magic. The complete spell, however, would take the work of a very powerful witch, and unfortunately she was tracking them into California by this time and the witch she knew was too far away to contact on low necessity traveling. She sent a few electronic messages home at a local office and found out that they had found an evasion spell that worked on the Grimms, but were unable to translate more than two words from it so she began to use it; it worked pretty well, but it wouldn't last forever. It took awhile for her to get it right, but as soon as she did, it worked like a charm; not too much later, an enemy destroyed the spell and the book it was in so all she had was a weak counter spell. The necklace, though, was another story altogether. Deni didn't talk about it usually, and preferred not to bring it up, figuring that if anyone knew, her secret would come out and she would find herself in a whole world of trouble--at least that's what she believed--because she didn't want attention. "How many victims are there?"  
  
"Nine so far." Deni seemed concerned about something then.  
  
"Sealed slice through the body?" she said.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Broken mirrors?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"That's the work of a Grimmace, or for the shorter term, Grimm. It's like a reaper, only invisible unless seen in a mirror. They travel in packs unfortunately. The packs seem to spread throughout a mile radius. They were able to call in reinforcements quickly when you attacked them. It's weird, though."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"Because they're slow for the kill, but not that slow. They could have had at least twenty dead in three days." Angel looked back to see her, his face reflecting anger. Deni merely looked up blankly and waited for him to get the feeling back in his face because it wasn't her place to force good people to do what she wanted on their turf; for someone who appeared to have the knowledge of a two hundred year old vampire with much time to look forward to, he sure wasn't up to par with his emotions. Maybe he had a soul?…Not likely for someone who seemed to do as much good as he was doing. Anything is possible, and that meant that his soul must've been given to him somehow. There were instances where demons had been killed for having guilt but there were many spirits out there who would do anything to get what they want in exchange for a simple soul. Then again, Angel did good, but maybe that's because he was once bad. Something inside of her agreed. It wasn't a gift then. Witches have such power, but so do gypsies. Deni decided to dismiss it for the meanwhile since her prying usually gave them permission to pry as well. She stared at him until he saw the look on her face, bringing both of them back to reality. He didn't like the sound of these Grimms--he hadn't even heard of them until now. It took Angel awhile to register the thought of these creatures wreaking havoc as she had suggested, and he turned around, beginning to run down the tunnel towards their destination; she followed without hesitation.  
  
"How do you know so much about these creatures?" Deni kept up with him and recalled what she knew from her journey. There wasn't much to discuss.  
  
"I've been tracking them for awhile. They go through a process when they reach a city, then repeat the process the next time they reach a new destination; they take what they want, then leave to the next city. I haven't been able to kill one yet so all one can do is get information." They fell into a silence again and Angel slowed down, looking upwards. There was a ladder that led to the topside and Angel began to climb it, Deni standing below. "You're the first vampire I have ever met in three decades that didn't attack me on sight." Angel looked down and sighed of the frustration of a bad night's work.  
  
"You don't have to trust me. You should trust my cause because it is the same as yours." He opened up the manhole above him and hoisted himself up into the dark passageway behind the Hyperion. He looked down the manhole and waited for Deni to come up. "You're the first client who hasn't trusted me in a long time, Deni." Angel stared down at her somewhat sympathetically and Deni saw something that she had never seen in a vampire before. She climbed up after him, stopping as she saw his hand extended out for her. Deni took his hand firmly; he pulled her up and she stepped up to stand on the street; she stood up on her own and they looked around as if examining their current status. At each end of the alley was a bright street with hoards of people hurrying towards their workplace. They had both survived the night.  
  
"You're in safe hands." Angel looked down at her and smiled slightly.  
  
"You had better be right," she said with a knowing smirk. Angel led her into the back way and stepped foot into the Hyperion Hotel. Deni looked all around her, trying to memorize everything she saw so she could be at ease in case of danger. She wanted to be able to use what she had access to, and from the looks of the hotel he had escorted her to, it seemed to be like a fortress in disguise.   
  
"I only have pig's blood stored here so I would appreciate it if you kept to that menu."  
  
"I don't drink anything that walks. There won't be any trouble." Angel looked back at her as if stunned that she would be so tame about it, even tired of the thought. A vampire who didn't crave blood? It didn't make any sense. Unless she was very old or just didn't have the gene, it was impossible, wasn't it? There wasn't such a vampire, he thought. All vampires had the bloodlust because of necessity otherwise they would starve to death. That made him wonder if she were a god of some sort. Even he craved blood, but he had a soul to keep him under control; did she have the same restrictions? He would have to bring this to Wesley's attention as soon as possible. They entered the main hall and in trotted Wesley and Gunn involving an interesting conversation involving the cause behind the murders. When they saw Angel and his guest, they stopped their conversation.  
  
"This is headquarters." said Angel, looking back to see Deni exploring the room with her eyes. That pendant was interesting; it looked old enough without her looking like a fifteen year old, but her eyes were different. They were aged beyond her apparent years, but she acted as though she didn't have any power of her own to be blunt. She may not show it, but he knew better than to underestimate demons, though he forgot this lesson more times than he was worth at times. "Wesley, Gunn, this is Deni. She has vital information on what the murders involved. Where are Fred and Cordelia?"  
  
"Fred went to update our victims list to accompany two more victims. Cordelia is on food run."  
  
"We've got research to tend to. Look for anything on the Grimmace, that's with two 'M's. I ran into one and more showed up."  
  
"More?" said Gunn, who looked at Deni, then back at Angel. "And she helped you?"  
  
"She was able to fend them off herself with a counter spell. She's also been following them for awhile." Deni seemed interested in a wall hanging near her; it was a portrait of an ocean with an island in the center of what looked like a tree. Deni saw this, but then looked near the base of the portrait of the tree, and saw a snake's head; when she examined the picture further, she realized that the snake was the tree. This picture was no stranger to her; she recognized it from somewhere. Remembering that she was as old as she was, she knew that the painting could have been anything she glanced at in the least likely of places. She tuned herself back into the conversation.  
  
"You might also want to look up the Grimm or even Reapers."  
  
"Why Reapers?" asked Angel. Deni tore herself away from the wall hanging and looked at Wesley. The man looked at Angel as if he were the boss of this outfit, and she guessed that it could be so.  
  
"Grimmaces use fiery scythes to kill their victim. What kind of books do you have that I could sift through?" Wesley waved them into research mode. 


	2. Grimms and Gods: chapter 2

Grimms and Gods  
  
by Daniele-Marx  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own "Angel" or anyone from BtVS. Chapter Two!  
  
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After a long while Deni was approached by Angel as she was reading through some hunting fire demons who wielded swords as weapons. There were none. This struck her as odd and she closed the book, looking up and seeing Angel holding a book open in front of her. Deni hesitated as he grabbed her full attention and read a sentence of the book. This section was about the Stellio-Arrak pendant, the fire red jewel encased in a large salamander, a Stellio. Scanning a bit more, she found a point in a paragraph, placed her finger on the part she read, and looked up at Angel. He turned the book back towards him and read what she pointed at:  
  
"The Stellio-Arrak pendant originated during   
  
the 1400s by the goddess Melynadia, the Fire   
  
Tamer half-goddess, who disappeared   
  
immediately after the creation of the pendant.   
  
Arrak was the god whose duty was to rise the   
  
sun everyday. It was said that the pendant   
  
would control the primal urges of the   
  
undead..."  
  
"How are you possible? Even vampires who have lived for such a long time have been noted and remembered by other vampires. Even I would have known about you...actually, I think I'm more interested in where you got that pendant from." Deni drew out her necklace unconsciously and looked at the pendant that mirrored the small picture in the book, holding it with graceful hands that seemed to move like water.  
  
"I received it as a gift from a friend, and no one would remember me. I'm just a myth." Angel eyed the piece and Deni stood up, looking at the book over the front of the edge.  
  
"You have a good friend." She nodded. "A Fire Tamer?" Deni sat back and suddenly something passed by her eyes, making her will to speak less strong. She never enjoyed her will to talk excessively and prided herself more on her will to stay quiet rather than her will to ramble off whatever was on her mind. There was too much to risk   
  
"You're trying to get me to open up but I've gotten myself into too much trouble by answering personal questions. First off, I feel too old to go up against every vampire, demon, and apocalyptic beast who thinks they will get some recognition for defeating me. I like the quiet life personally. I think, though, that if your team works well enough, I'll give you a few numbers for reference unless you have a fee?" Angel nodded. "Understandable. I found something, though." Angel looked down to see that she was pointing at another paragraph. It read:  
  
"From the fire within comes the jewel Arrak   
  
and its protector, the Stellio, an ancient   
  
salamander which comes from fire and consumes   
  
it. It is also the sole protector of he who   
  
wears it during battle with the death bearer,   
  
'Grimmace,' whose purpose is to steal souls.   
  
This creature multiplies itself to throw off   
  
an enemy, each one becoming a separate and   
  
independent being. These two things are the   
  
destroyer of the Grimmace."  
  
"Isn't that convenient?" she said very quietly, suddenly understanding the necklace she wore. "I never knew that." Angel looked at her and she returned the gesture. "They only attack things with a soul. That means you have a soul, right?" Angel opened his mouth to explain, but decided to skip the speech. "I'm pretty sure I know who you are, but the Scourge of Europe disappeared a long time ago. What happened, though? Get swarmed by a clan of Gypsies?" Angel nodded without much thought and Deni shook her head in disbelief. "You're better off with it. More self control."  
  
"Do you have a soul?" Deni didn't answer him, but he had a feeling she didn't want to talk about her circumstances, so, not caring whether or not she wished to tell him anything after this, he pressed on. "If you're going to work with us, we have to know who we're working with." Angel didn't get an answer right away, but he knew her enough already that she was considering telling him what he wanted to know. He waited a few more moments and she finally sent a look of frustration up at him, her neck craning because of his height.  
  
"No, I don't. I do have more self control of my bloodlust than most vampires I know."  
  
"Does the pendant make you this way?"  
  
"I assume it has something to do with it. The other half would have to be a particularly violent turning. That's a different subject altogether." Deni plopped back on the chair but not before grabbing a notepad and pencil, beginning to scrawl the information she had down. Angel seemed to mutter something to himself about how that couldn't happen and she mumbled just as quietly as he finished that the times had changed since reason left the vampire race.  
  
"Do you remember the book that you got the counter spell from?"  
  
"Nope. I didn't get to read into the subject too thoroughly and by the time I sent it to someone who could read it somewhat, there was an attack and I was off. In all my life I had never seen anything in that language. On another note, I find your book collection impressive. Mine keeps getting messed with. I do believe my colleagues have never mastered the Dewey Decimal System. Well, I wrote down the basics." She stared at the notes she made and began to form a plan, handing the paper over to Angel. Angel took her notes calmly and looked at what she wrote:  
  
Grimm  
  
--invisible except when seen in a mirror  
  
--scythes made of fire  
  
--already on the move  
  
Arrak  
  
--God of the Sunrise  
  
Stellio  
  
--Salamander born from fire and lives by consuming it.  
  
Solutions  
  
--counter spell needed  
  
"So, what's your story?" Gunn asked, looking up from his book at the bookshelf at Deni. Deni looked up as if just realizing the man was just there. She remained quiet because she had just rambled on about parts of her past to Angel, something she had not intended to do. Fred was sitting down near him, deeply immersed in a book about apocalyptic beasts; it was possible that she hadn't even been paying attention to the conversation between Deni and Angel. Though, she didn't look the type to overlook any sort of information. Deni watched as the woman seemed to calculate everything she read in the book and wondered how she got pulled into this group. Maybe it was the thrill of discovery or scientific calculations that got her where she was, but then again, it wasn't her business. She didn't answer Gunn, and he mumbled something about antisocial behavior and something else that might have referred to Angel.  
  
Wesley walked in with a book cradled in his hands and Angel was still reading the list Deni had made and saw the flaw in the knowledge right away. She had a necklace that would protect her so long as she didn't take the necklace off for more than a few moments. The trouble was that it was a specially-made pendant necklace and would only protect one person at a time. "I see. We've got something, guys." Gunn and Fred put down their books and looked at Angel. "Is that friend around still? The one who gave you that pendant?"  
  
"She died." Deni said bluntly. "Even is she were alive, she'd be no use to this cause. I would suggest a trap to get them out into the sunlight."  
  
"They're not that slow. They might pick it up. If anything, a large, well-laid distraction could do the trick, but we would need something big. And with this information on the Stellio-Arrak, we can probably find a weak point."  
  
"What's the Stellio-Arrak?" said Fred. She had stood up and walked over to the book Angel and Deni had been looking at, picked it up and read from it where Angel pointed. A frown spread over her face, but then resolve seemed to take its place. "I don't see a problem. See, if we look at the evidence, a 'Stellio' is actually a large, fire-living salamander and 'Arrak' is the Norse god of sunrise. I think all we would need is someone to conjure one or the other, or maybe both, considering the artifact we have suggests that they work together. The Stellio would be very useful since the Grimm uses a fire scythe and Stellios seem to consume flames. Sun, of course, would be the obvious solution to destroy them."  
  
"Then again," said Wesley, "it would be best to use a genuine Stellio, and I am sure they are extinct. But since the Stellio and Arrak are grouped together, they were destined to stop this evil together?"  
  
"Or unless Arrak is the keeper of the Stellios." said Deni. Everyone looked at her, which Deni found rather irritating.  
  
"Either way, we'll have to use magic to conjure either a Stellio or summon Arrak." Angel said, looking at Wesley. "Willow?" Wesley nodded in approval.  
  
"She hasn't turned down an opportunity to help with magic. I'll make the call." Wesley left the room, passing Cordelia as she entered the office. Deni had her doubts on whether they were going to be conjuring Arrak, the Norse sun god, or a salamander that consumes fire from a known enemy. Cordelia took one look at Deni and raised an eyebrow as she saw her outfit before lifting a bag of Krispy Kreme doughnuts up, signaling breakfast.  
  
"Who are you?" Deni looked at the woman blankly and remembering herself saying that five was a decent number for an investigations team, then scolding herself for agreeing with such thoughts. Angel looked at Cordelia while Gunn reached for the doughnut bag.  
  
"Cordelia, this is Deni. She came here to share information on the murders."  
  
"Did she care to think about the people who saw her in that?"  
  
"There are more important things in this world than fashion." said Deni.  
  
"I believed that once, but then a minute later I woke up and realized that it was all just a dream. I swear, Angel, where do you meet these people?" Gunn fished out a glazed doughnut and took a bite out of it, passing the bag to Fred. She nodded graciously and dug out a jelly-filled pastry, handing the bag back to Cordelia. "So, what are they?"  
  
After Angel explained the situation, Wesley walked in and Cordelia swung the bag of half-gone doughnuts into his chest. "Willow said she would be here as soon as she is able. She's got an idea as to which spell we're thinking about using." Wesley put the doughnut bag down.  
  
"What happens until then?" Gunn said, finishing his doughnut. "Do we wait for it to attack again or do we want to go after it now?"  
  
"The attacks have all been at night." said Wesley. "There's little chance it even goes out in the daytime. Our chances are better to go with the magic plan."  
  
"It all sounds good...in theory." Gunn looked at Deni, who had presumed reading about the Stellio-Arrak pendant. He assumed that she wasn't going to involve herself in their group affairs, but wasn't sure if she was getting anything out of their conversation. "Why don't we ask Deni?" Deni almost looked up abruptly, and would have blushed if she had the blood to. Deni looked at Gunn, Angel, then back to Gunn. She seemed to gather her thoughts within a moment's time, which led Angel's conclusion haywire once again.  
  
"Magic will work. I've been deflecting them for awhile."  
  
"Deflecting them is a lot different than killing them."  
  
"They aren't complex creatures. Their weakness was in a book written decades ago. I'm just not strong enough to conjure it. The witch--" Angel cut her off abruptly, silencing her.  
  
"Her name is Willow." Deni ignored him and kept talking.  
  
"The witch is strong enough to conjure the Stellio?" Angel nodded and Deni let out a breath of air, obviously tired and apparently feeling a large burden being lifted from her shoulders. Cordelia seemed tired of the scene, which had suddenly reminded her of someone who was always brooding as well, then left the scene while rolling her eyes. Deni continued to read the book in front of her, trying to take in as much information as possible from it on the pendant around her neck. They would wait until the witch got there.  
  
~~  
  
"Hello! Anybody here? Angel? Wesley? Cordy?" Willow walked through the Hyperion Hotel with her potions bag at her side and a hefty old book under her arm. She had been researching books in Giles' extensive library at his home and had come up with something that could serve as a destroyer of the Grimm Wesley had told her about. This Deni character sounded interesting; she just had to meet her. Cordelia stepped into the room to greet her and, not surprisingly, after a few short comments, they were finished with all the latest on both their sides of California. "I can't wait to meet Deni. She sounds fascinating. Don't look at me like that, Cordy." Cordelia had given Willow one of the old-fashioned I'm-better-than-thou looks and the witch concluded that her female counterpart was not well thought of in many senses. "She can't be all that bad, can she?" Willow watched Cordelia point towards the office where Deni and Angel were conversing.  
  
"They haven't stopped talking since he brought her here. I think he's trying to get her to talk or something. She hasn't been the most compliant when it came to regular interesting conversation. You see that face she is making? That empty, solitary stare as Angel talks to her? That hasn't changed, either. I don't even think Angel can surprise her. It gets worse, too. Her fashion sense is almost as bad as her attitude. I didn't think it possible for someone to try wearing what she is during fall. It is just terrible." Willow realized that regular conversation with Cordelia was never going to change. At least she's trying to be nice by not saying this in front of Deni; she possibly learned tact since meeting up with Angel?  
  
"When do we start? I think it would be best if we can start quickly. It might take awhile before I'll be ready to perform the ritual. I've never tried to conjure a false lizard being to scare off grim reapers. It's not natural enough for me because it calls for some more ancient magicks." Willow waved at Angel, who had looked out the office door and waved back. She still couldn't wait to meet Deni.  
  
"Angel, Willow's here! " Angel looked up to see the two looking at him and he with Deni entered the room in which he was hailed into. Willow studied Deni and smiled after a second. "Willow, Deni, Deni, Willow." Willow and Deni shook hands.  
  
"You are a freelance witch?" Willow smiled wider.  
  
"You're a witch and vampire?" Deni nodded as if she were tired of talking about the subject, but remained polite. "And I heard you don't have the appetite?"  
  
"You heard correct."  
  
"I may have heard of you, but you've got to be over four hundred years old by now. And how you still remain alive is beyond me."  
  
"Staying out of trouble seems to work for me. Nobody comes after you if you have nothing to prove it seems."  
  
"How do you survive then?" Willow seemed suddenly very interested in what Deni had to say and Cordelia rolled her eyes.  
  
"Mostly because I never told anyone, but every now and then someone figured me out and tried to take me. They were always about a century younger than I so it wasn't hard to defeat them and cast a memory spell on them to keep them from remembering me. Everything was okay until these Grimms came along."  
  
"But if you don't get into the affairs of your surroundings, how come you got involved with this?"  
  
"I guess I got sympathetic."  
  
"I guess I would too. What did you do with all that time on your hands?"  
  
"Everything." Angel interrupted them by clearing his throat gently.  
  
"Will, we should get started. What's your plan?" 


	3. Grimms and Gods: chapter 3

Grimms and Gods  
  
by Daniele-Marx  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before...Chapter 3!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Darkness fell. The alleys were silent and barren, showing no signs of life. A gentle, eerie breeze flowed through the alleyways and side streets, and though those streets were empty, there seemed to be a small trace of essence as the lane merely glowed from the streetlights. There was an air of foreboding and nothing to challenge it. In the distance of a brightly lit block there came a light tapping noise, the sound of wood connecting with pavement. Moments passed and the beating continued. A tree rustled as a bird flew out of its branches and high above the street. There were a few more moments when all one could hear was the pounding of the wood to the pavement, and chills could run down a person's spine just by the mere thought of the creature behind the rhythm. Just then, the sound became three different taps, then ten, and soon fourteen; more creatures fled from their homes, escaping the foreboding feeling in their hearts. Small squirrels with their children ran through the streets, seeking sanctuary as more birds followed suit with the earlier bird. Soon the creatures were alone in the lamplight, there but not seen. It was as if a secret meeting had been called.  
  
The breeze became slightly louder as they gathered and as the tapping came closer together, the breeze transformed into a low howl, one of provocation. The tapping stopped. The wind swirled around the unseen creatures, howling warnings and provoking their vengeance. Several of them let out an ear-shattering screech that pierced the night. These creatures were drawn to this chant, and the sound began to ride the air away from them, beckoning them to follow; they didn't turn down the invitation as they glided soundlessly through the night towards the source of their fury.  
  
The AI team stood steadfast as Willow finished her spell and joined them and Deni. Willow and Deni stood in front, knowing deflector spells and how to defend themselves against the Grimms, and Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Cordelia followed suit with mirrors of all sizes. Gunn looked over to see Cordelia glancing at herself every once in awhile in a handheld mirror to see if there was something behind her or not. If there wasn't, she cleaned off the surface and tried again just to make sure, or so she claimed. Willow reminded them a few times that they would go for the most convenient passage; they left open the front door and Willow spoke the spell clearly so the creatures wouldn't go any other way. "They're coming." Everyone looked at Deni as she spoke this and a screech sliced through the Hyperion. There was more silence as they heard another screech and the howling chant enter the hotel. The Grimms would be there in moments.  
  
"Remember, no fighting. Just use the mirrors and let us do the rest." Angel said, holding a wisp of Dogwood. Willow was going to make a fire from one of the scythes the Grimms used, and then Angel would throw in the live Dogwood branch to summon Arrak, and Deni would throw in the concoction they created as a second sacrifice to Arrak to make the Stellio. They in turn would destroy any traces of the Grimmace's existence. Of course, there would remain the knowledge of the creatures and those who were murdered by them. Then the possibility of them coming back wasn't exactly low, but at least they were gone and there was a way to defeat them.  
  
Through the front doors they heard the wind stop and one more head splitting screech before all went silent. Cordelia looked at Gunn as he supported a large mirror in front of him and looked at the reflection it cast. Fred seemed to be staring at the mirror, then at the empty space at the door, then back at the mirror. "There's one going around you, Willow, one heading towards both of you, Angel and Deni. Now would be the time to cast the spell." Willow nodded and outstretched her arms, beginning to chant.  
  
"Spirits of old, Ancient Arrak hear us! Unite your great forces to aide us!" Willow reached out for the essence of fire she needed to conjure the god, and the Grimm in front of Deni screeched as Willow stole its fire-enclosed scythe; she closed her eyes and held the staff with no awareness of pain. All at once, she dropped the staff and it became visible to everyone's eyes. The Grimm's scream died down and Cordelia and Fred saw it disappear without a trace by reflection. Angel and Deni readied themselves for their part in the spell and watched the fire, though hot and burning, fail to touch and burn them. The fire swarmed in a circle and Willow signaled Angel to throw the bloomed branch into the middle.  
  
Wesley looked back into the mirror finally and noticed that there was a Grimm approaching Cordelia from the side that Fred had cautioned Willow about. He grabbed the nearest weapon he could see, which was a battle axe, and looked at the mirror again to get his bearings right. When he knew where he was going, he lunged at the creature and swung the axe; it clashed with metal and Wesley put all of his strength into pushing him away, causing Cordelia to scream. Wesley, who had to almost cover his ears because of Cordelia's shriek, lost where the creature was and heard the sound of whooshing wind behind him, making him pivot and throw his axe up in defense; the axe was now against the wood, braced firmly so the blade was hovering wearily over his head. Cordelia reached for a weapon as well, her hand coming to rest upon a wooden stake on a pedestal, pushing the stake off of the table; she picked up the pedestal and hit the Grimm on the back as hard as she could. Wesley seemed to have less resistance against the axe he held and retreated behind a concentrating Deni. Willow continued.  
  
"Ancient Arrak, we implore thee, unite your great forces and aide us!" Willow began to sway, a sure sign of the spell's success as she droned herself into a trance. A vague figure began to form inside the circle on the floor and Deni knelt down, pouring the concoction around the god's vision with much care in a counter clockwise direction. Being as old as she was, there were naturally things she knew that no one would remember about spells and how they worked: This was one of them, and what was worse, she knew who discovered them. She didn't know whether that made her wise or just plain old. Her necklace touched the surface of the concoction without her realizing it and she got to her feet. The vision of Arrak shifted and suddenly something began to take form from the fire.  
  
Fred heard something behind her and grabbed the mirror from Gunn, hiding behind it and hearing a scythe come into contact with the object she hid behind. Gunn pulled her back as he saw the scythe cut through the mirror, shattering the glass and causing it to scatter over the floor as if it were splattered water. Everyone could see the Grimm's reflections from the mirror pieces on the floor. Gunn pulled Fred behind him and grabbed something heavy to ward them off with, a three foot long metal candlestick in this case. Swinging rapidly at the creature only visible when he glanced downwards, Gunn managed to catch the scythe from above, and Angel recalled the spell Deni had used when she saved him. The phrase "Forces unite!" was all she could interpret from the spell, and he tried to concentrate on his spell casting. He called out the phrase efficiently and took aim on one of the invisible creatures; his hand began to burn like fire and he looked at the blue energy surrounding his hand. Forcing the magic to hit the Grimm, he felt the magic climb up his arm and sear through his veins. Angel let go of the magic when he heard a screech of pain come from the creature he was aiming for; the burn wasn't close to fading and he clenched his fist in obvious pain.  
  
"Forces unite!" It was Deni. She had seen Angel and decided to perform the short spell herself. Angel looked over and saw her blank face; apparently she had more experience in magic than he himself had. There was no sign of pain in her features, and with the pain he just felt he knew it would be impossible to harness the feeling it brought. When he saw one of the creatures corner Gunn and Fred, he pushed the pain away and tackled the Grimm in front of them.  
  
The Grimms had stopped their entrance into the Hyperion. Arrak continued to rise from the conjured ring and with him came several other unrecognizable forms. Deni and Willow recognized the figures as the Stellios, in which at that point they took real form. Willow recalled the spell and knew she had to keep her concentration otherwise the spell would immediately reverse. The creatures halted abruptly and screeched all at once, sounding not too unlike the sound of several nails being raked violently slow over a chalkboard. The sound seemed to fuel the forms coming from the ring at Willow's feet. Within seconds the creatures took the form of large red lizards, salamanders, and appeared to moan inhumanly with eyes glowing red as a flame. Suddenly, they attacked the Grimms and the AI crew backed off, leaving Deni next to Willow. "Angel, protect Willow! The spell could still go wrong at this point!" Angel nodded and joined the two, evading several Stellios in the process, which whisked away from him to seize the Grimms near them.  
  
The sound of the Grimm's screech tore at the team's ears as a Stellio ripped into its prey with teeth sharp as razors, making it practically impossible to concentrate on a single thought. The Stellios tore after the creatures and Cordelia screamed as she heard another screech very near her. For a second it was as if she could see a scythe coming down to slice her into two searing halves, and if Wesley hadn't grabbed her from behind and tackled her to the ground, she knew she would have. Angel watched the mirror pieces on the ground and watched the Grimms begin to scatter from the entryway, fanning around the room. He turned and saw Fred with Gunn, who had still been swinging away at a Grimm, but was slowly losing ground. Pushing all pain from his thoughts he held up his hand again, concentrating not on the spell but on banishing the pain when it would come. "Forces unite!" His hand began to burn again as the blue light encased it; it wasn't fire. He wouldn't burn to death. Of course, he knew this when Deni was able to perform the spell without hesitation or fear of burning herself.  
  
Angel fired the glow outwards towards the Grimm as he did before, double checking the mirrors in order to make his aim true. His hand burned further, but this time he knew it was coming, thus he didn't feel the impact of the pain so abruptly as before. The Grimm was warded away and a Stellio attacked it, and the creature screeched again, its voice dying away. As though it had never existed, thus went all of the other Grimms, and Deni began to feel relief of the tension as she waited for the moment to end at long last. Everything she had worked for was finally coming to a close, but the battle between the Grimms and the Stellios still waged on. Someone once said that the destination isn't nearly as exciting as the journey it takes to get there. If there was a person who liked sarcasm, Deni thought, it was that guy.  
  
Suddenly, Deni felt an odd feeling of foreboding, and she looked at the god Arrak, who seemed to turn his attention to her. His form began to glow brighter and she suddenly felt trapped as she found herself unable to move her attention from him or even move away from him. Angel drew his attention from the Stellios tearing the Grimms apart with such a force that it was hard not to picture what anguish the reaper-like creatures were feeling,; he looked at Deni as she and Arrak seemed to have a certain attraction pulling them together. This worried him as he noted a slight fiery glow in her eyes as she was approached by Arrak. The female vampire seemed unable to move and he heard the Stellios begin to moan loudly as they finished off the last of the Grimms and turned their attention to Deni and Arrak.  
  
The fire god reached out and touched Deni's skin, but she didn't burn as she was grabbed around the neck tightly and stayed still as though trying to disappoint him by not moving to stop him. He wasn't able to choke her because vampires didn't have breath, but naturally had the instinct to choke when held as such. "Denierre, you have betrayed my trust for the last time. This witch has summoned me under the mark which had been given to you by the fire witch five hundred years ago." Arrak's other hand grabbed the necklace and held it tightly; it seemed after awhile that he was unable to pull it from her neck. "She hadn't the sanction to create this entity nor do you have the right to use it as you have." He threw Deni into the wall behind her and she shook her head and blinked furiously to gather her wits, her necklace still around her neck. "The bargain the fire witch made was to be fulfilled by her alone and I was betrayed."  
  
"She died almost a week later than that. The bargain was abandoned. I would not call it betrayal. Her intentions were pure as we said."  
  
"You were never to summon me as such." As one of the performers of the spell, Deni was considered a summoner. Deni stood up and dusted herself off as if to present a good impression on the god; he had no interest in appearance, though. "I am aware of the bargain and it has not been abandoned. I have seen the fire witch. She lives."  
  
"And I'm telling you that she, the one who summoned you the first time, is not the same girl."  
  
"You lie. Her soul is the same."  
  
"I do not lie. She is not the same person who made the bargain." Cordelia leaned over to Wesley at that moment.  
  
"How can she not be the same if she's got the soul?"  
  
"I think they're referring to reincarnation. This Fire Tamer must be extremely powerful if she is able to make contact with the fire gods. I don't believe we're meant to know any of this though."  
  
"Huh? Why not?" she said rather loudly.  
  
"Silence!" said Arrak. He reached out for Deni through his anger but was stopped by her necklace. Deni didn't have too much experience with fire battles, but knew that they needed more open space in order to fulfill the requirements. This was nowhere near enough room, Deni reasoned, deflecting the fire from her. "The necklace! Return it now as you have abused the power given to you!"  
  
"It was given as a gift for personal protection. It cannot be returned. You and I both know this. I say to you, stop this so that we may settle this wisely."  
  
"I have waited five hundred years! It will be settled now!" 


	4. Grimms and Gods: chapter 4

Grimms and Gods  
  
by Daniele-Marx  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Disclaimer: ...Nope, still don't own them. Chapter 4: The Conclusion!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Deni watched as the Stellios turned on her; granted she wished to just turn and disconnect the spell by grabbing hold of Willow's arm, but her code was not to have any enemies who could turn others against her; she hadn't had one yet and wished to keep her secret to some extent. She felt her options fade as she considered each one, and wondered what she could barter for immunity. A smirk was suppressed at the realization that nothing she herself could barter would grant her immunity from what wrath he harbored, if he would have it his way. Angel stepped up to grab Willow and pull her out of her trance, but Deni shook her head no. Arrak turned to see Willow, who was still entranced in the spell; the Stellios began to swarm their way towards Willow and Angel began to approach the entranced spell caster slowly, trying not to provoke Arrak. "I could always take the witch."  
  
"You're not being reasonable. She stays on this plane. Her life is not mine. The bargain was made between the Fire Tamer and myself; no one here has the signature you search for." Angel looked at Willow once more and then at Deni, noticing her necklace for the hundredth time this night.  
  
"Deni, I think he wants to break the connection between you two."  
  
"The pendant? Hold on here--" Arrak seemed to hesitate and the Stellios began to halt as well. Angel had a point, Deni reasoned, but the pendant she carried had been hers for over five hundred years; she wasn't too keen to get rid of it. Something dawned on her then. While she was dealing with Arrak as she would anyone who crossed her path now, she never considered that he was still stuck in the past so to speak.  
  
"You will if you want to get rid of him!" Deni stopped to think. The pendant or the witch and herself. She realized she would rather bargain. These days it was hard enough not to say 'Just blow him up!' then to use reason. The problem was this: She was given the pendant by someone who couldn't take it back. Oh, she wished she never came here. Then, at least, she would have not been able to make the choice; on the other hand, she strongly believed in fate. If she wasn't meant to keep the pendant, then she would have no other choice but to give it up for the greater cause. She knew she had to stick by her moral standards should she be under Arrak's trial. Diplomacy was key here for her.  
  
"Fine." She removed the necklace and held it in her open hand. This pendant was very good for a vampire. Fire was the universal symbol of purity; she knew the pendant was the reason she despised blood. She could probably go for a few more months, maybe even years, without feeling an urge to drink should she give the pendant up freely. Arrak stared at the it and Deni held it out for him to take. "Take the pendant and be done with it. I have no desire to be in further argument with you." Arrak seemed to become engulfed with more flames than he started with but he seemed to consider what she would give him and what he could take. After a minute of consideration, the flames calmed themselves and he stared down at Deni with a fierce look in his eyes.  
  
"Five hundred years of service from both you and the fire witch in the dimension above this one and the pendant." The pendant suddenly became less important at the moment, and Deni grasped it and put down her hand.  
  
"That's not going to happen. I'm the one who summoned you tonight, not the Fire Tamer. Her powers aren't near as powerful as they were in her past life. She wouldn't survive a month under the work her past life would have to go through. One hundred years from me and the pendant."  
  
"My territory, my rules. Four hundred years."  
  
"It's a joke. I could merely deflect your powers and push the witch over. One-fifty."  
  
"With the pendant in advance."  
  
"If you mean you want me to give up my protection so you can possess my body and walk out of here, I will have to object. I know your ways, Arrak. That's not going to happen. Take human form and I'll consider giving you the pendant when we're out of this hotel. One hundred and fifty years of service and the pendant, and when that time is up, it will be voided." Angel stepped up suddenly, his face expressing confusion and the rare look of fear usually found on a deer when it glances into headlights.  
  
"What kind of service are we talking about, Arrak?" Deni and Arrak looked at Angel with blank looks. They were so involved with the past that they forgot that there were others in the room. "She's still my client and that means I'm responsible for her. Now nobody's going anywhere until I get some information."  
  
"Everyone varies, Angel."  
  
"I've been to hell for a hundred years and I wasn't sane when I got out."  
  
"There's little difference between that and this, but someone has to make up for lost time and since I am the only witness left it is only proper that I pay the price."  
  
"Why? Why would you willingly give up the right to live your life? Why all this mayhem over something that happened over five centuries ago? It doesn't make sense."  
  
"Because there's a code of conduct for those who remember it. I am doing this because I have no desire to be revealed and I don't want to be bombarded by enemies. Do you have a problem with that?"  
  
"Yes, I have a problem with that. Times have changed and no one willingly serves evil beings anymore."  
  
"There is no bad guy in this scenario, Angel. Arrak is reasonable when you start talking to him. This is the way with all gods. Most of the time it is common reciprocity, but otherwise you have to get them to loosen up because of all the intrusions caused by other witches and spell casters. In the end, those who mean well on both parts misunderstand one another. You have tried too hard to adjust to this world you live in that you forgot the one you were brought into. I expect I will be emotionally in tact when I get out of his only because I went willingly. There will be no trouble."  
  
"And what about everything here? Are you willing to give up everything you've ever done just to pay back a debt you've never bothered to look into?" Deni guessed that Angel wasn't grasping this concept nor would he in the allotted time it would take for Arrak to take her to his abode in the next dimension, probably in some extremely hot lair made for his species, which meant that she would living in a living, breathing sauna.  
  
"I keep my promises, Angel. Besides, if you've been to hell, you certainly know that time moves differently there than here. I shouldn't be gone more than a few months earth time. Now, Arrak, if you accept these terms then maybe we can come to an arrangement."  
  
"I agree." Arrak took her hand and as if she pulled him out of a carriage. A lean man wearing a black with orange pinstripe suit, a black cape with orange lining, and a black hat with a matching orange stripe to match stepped into the room. He had flaming orange hair and a pointed nose, his fingers bony and still grasping her hand as the other waved away the spell that was cast.  
  
Willow suddenly swayed out of the trance caused by the spell. Wesley ran up to Willow and caught her, pulling her away from Arrak and Deni. Willow sat up against Wesley's arms as he held her against him, looking up to see Angel staring at Deni who was staring at Arrak. "I think he was frustrated that no one was still using the old ways to get things done. Too many people just barge into his realm and take what they want and leave without so much as recognition for his help." Wesley listened to Willow's words and took them to heart. Now he believed that Deni was taking the right path. At first he believed that Deni was trying to pick a fight in order to get away with ridding of the Grimms by tricking Arrak, but now he noticed that she learned from her mistake not using her intellect to calm Arrak before attempting to converse with him. She must have realized just how long it had been since she received the pendant.  
  
"I must speak with you on behalf of the investigators that reside here." said Deni suddenly, still holding onto Arrak's hand.  
  
"Geez, he really cleans up, doesn't he?" said Cordelia, who was admiring Arrak's new red hot look. Fred cleared her throat to signal Cordelia to get her head out of the clouds and help stand Willow, who was looking a little dazed and seemingly still high on the trance she had been pulled out of, up. Deni ignored those around her to choose the right words to say to Arrak.  
  
"Without your aide there would have been more murders in this city and there would have been no justice for those whose lives were taken." She turned to Angel with seriousness in her eyes. "Do you have an artifact you would be willing to offer to him in thanks? This being a bargain made by tradition, it would be proper to follow the same rituals since we were performing the spell together. Should he have come to you, he would have given you something of value to him." Angel paused to think and Deni looked around to find something in particular. Her eyes fell on the painting she had seen when Angel had led her into the Hyperion. She had recalled the painting with the snake in the ocean covering the island, and suddenly it hit her. "The Jormungandr." Angel looked up to see her alit face, noticing that she must have just figured out something she couldn't remember before now.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That painting you have. The Midgardsormr of Norse mythology consisting of the giant Jormungandr whom everyone feared and the island Midgard. They threw him into the ocean where he grew so huge that he encircled the island and became known as the Midgardsormr who rose up from the ocean to poison and devastate the earth." Angel walked over to the painting and took it off the hook it was propped onto.  
  
"I got this from a trader just before I came to America. He insisted I have it since he knew there would be no one to trade it for good supplies where he was going. It was a good painting for its time." Angel carried it over to Arrak, who looked at the painting with true interest. "Someone you know?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes." said Arrak, who took the painting with slight enthusiasm. "Your generosity will not be frowned upon. For a vampire, you have great self restraint. Don't expect the same treatment from other gods." He waved his hand over the painting and it disappeared into thin air. "We shall leave now. Say your farewells." Deni nodded and turned towards Angel and the rest of the team.  
  
"Thank you for helping me. Being as old as I am you get to the point where you don't need anyone. I need a favor, though." She walked over to the notepad she had written on earlier and scrawled a phone number on it, then handed it to Angel. "Call this number and ask for Melyna. Don't bring up anything about the Fire Tamer; it's not worth the earful you'll get. The phone number is probably the best reference you'll get out of this deal other than a solved case. Tell her I will be back in about six months for personal reasons. Don't tell her where I'm going but that the Grimms are no more. Then tell her to wire down however much you normally charge for these services from my account. I assume you do charge for services."  
  
"Duh." said Cordelia. Gunn looked at the woman with a blank look in his eyes. All she talked about was money. It was strange enough that Angel hired her, but she had a habit of spending money and avoiding tact. Though he agreed that she was right to some degree because they did provide the elements that brought her crusade to an end. And now she was going to work for the god who provided the artillery. That, he reasoned, should have sounded worse than it was, with the time served being one hundred and fifty years. Maybe it was the fact that that in this world was about six months. Six months or one hundred and fifty years, though, is enough to make even Angel nervous. When someone is gone for six months, it is supposed to be merely six months; Deni didn't have a problem with it, though, so long as her secret was kept safe. Secret, that is, meaning her age and how much longer she plans to live. Her secret would be safe with Arrak he assumed, but only because he cared enough to let her talk to him civilly and conceded to her terms.  
  
"I'm ready." These words left Deni's mouth and the AI team watched as Arrak began to lead her towards the entrance and realized that they weren't going to stop them. It didn't take much to realize that this case was probably one of the oddest yet. A vampire about five hundred years old coming down from wherever she was from to fight dangerous creatures that she had no intention of fighting in the first place helps solve the mystery and takes off with the demon who destroyed the creatures for them.  
  
"Hey, Deni." said Gunn, who was tired of standing by while all this happened. Deni and Arrak stopped, turning towards the man. "Just what happened that caused all this, including leaving like you are, to happen?" Everyone looked at her for the answer and wondered whether or not she would humor their question. Deni looked down.  
  
"I guess I can grant you this one considering you helped me rid of these creatures. I'll make it short so then you'll have to settle for less. Around five hundred and thirty-nine years ago I met this woman, Melynadia, the Fire Tamer of that era. We became friends, shared dangerous tasks, and discovered that my thirst for blood was a little too strong, so we summoned the fires to create this pendant, which represented the pure aspects of one who had a soul. The feat took a large portion of her energy and a week later she fought in a battle and lost. Soon enough, five hundred years passed. A few weeks ago I was told of a new source of evil that soon became known as the Grimmace and it killed some people from where I lived. No one was strong enough to fight it other than myself so I was assigned the task. Now here I am."  
  
"Well, that certainly explains a lot." said Wesley. Arrak turned towards Deni and nodded, making the vampire turn towards the exit again.  
  
"Thank you again for your help." she said. Arrak placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her out of the door. Angel followed them until he reached the entrance and they were already outside with the sun threatening to rise any second. He watched in the shade of the foyer until they reached the sidewalk and Deni appeared somewhat anxious.  
  
"You have nothing to fear so long as I stand here, Hannah." Deni seemed to calm down as she heard this and the sun suddenly rose, cascading light down the street and flooding rays upon both Deni and Arrak, in which Deni recoiled slightly with her hand up to shade her eyes and Arrak merely stood there, staring blankly into the bright source of daylight. Suddenly, he waved his hand and they disappeared in a shimmer which resembled a wave of heat.  
  
Angel watched as they disappeared and slowly turned back towards the team. He was happy that the murders were now at an end. "Well, I would say that more freaky than our last few cases." said Cordelia.  
  
"Those two looked really comfortable together." said Gunn.  
  
"When you meet someone who knows you from a long time ago, you forget rules that weren't in use until the eighteenth century." said Angel , who walked over to Willow. "You okay?"  
  
"Oh yeah. I got this real good buzz--for awhile, anyway-- when I held onto the spell. Good thing she compromised instead of resorted to violence. I'm not comfortable fighting with magic just yet…I should really get back to Sunnydale sometime today. With school tomorrow and all."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I could probably stay a little while in case you just wanted to catch up. Its not like I don't study hard enough every other day of the week."  
  
"Sounds good. We'll put some coffee on. Ill make the call in an hour or so. This phone number looks like it's from the Midwest somewhere." The AI team and Willow turned away from the entrance that Deni had disappeared, and moved on. Her life was no longer in their hands, though someone wanted to say, 'Lets go get her,' but didn't because she went on her own accord. Maybe it was because they weren't expecting what they saw that left them strangely unsettled, that they weren't really needed as a whole in order to take on the entire swarm of Grimms. They knew they would move on, but at the moment they felt the urge to reflect. Angel headed towards their bookcases in order to read up more, maybe find something more on Melynadia, maybe read up on the cause of her death and how that was affected by summoning Arrak a week earlier. Gunn, Wesley, and Fred went to grab some brooms to clean up the broken mirrors, the three chattering animatedly about the events that happened during the night; and Cordelia went into the office to start the coffee, accompanied by Willow, who was going on about how the spell felt and what she saw while under the trance, which caught Angel's attention later on in the morning. Cordelia stopped when she looked at the clock in the office, and her face went up in an annoyed pout. When asked about her sudden attitude, she threw her hands up, exasperated, and pointed at the clock's face. Willow's face lit up with excitement, which only fueled Cordelia's vexation.  
  
"It is four o'clock in the morning and the sun is already up!"  
  
The End...  
  
A/N: Review if you want. Marx. 


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